Maryland sire Citidancer euthanized after bout with laminitis

Longtime Maryland sire Citidancer was euthanized on Aug. 11 and has been buried at Country Life Farm, his home throughout his stud career, according to a notice on the Bel Air farm’s website.

Citidancer, a son of Dixieland Band, was 23 and was euthanized due to complications from laminitis. He had been pensioned from stud duty since the fall of 2005 after his fertility declined.

Bred by Warner Jones Jr., Citidancer was second to eventual two-time champion Housebuster in the 1990 Jerome Handicap and won three other races by a combined margin of more than 36 lengths. Citidancer went on to sire Grade 1 winners Urbane and Hookedonthefeelin (now the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Pussycat Doll), Grade 1-placed graded winner Park Avenue Ball, and such graded winners as Cherokee’s Boy, Disco Rico, and Latin Dancer.

Citidancer was out of the graded-placed stakes-winner Willamae, making him a half-brother to Grade 1 winner’s Will’s Way and Willa On the Move.

Citidancer’s inbreeding to Northern Dancer might have contributed to both his speed and his infertility, Country Life manager Josh Pons said.

“He had a fine libido,” he said. “He was just unpredictable settling his mares. Otherwise, he might have been a leading sire, as he had eight percent stakes winners from foals. That’s rare air for any sire. Like many fine stallions, his influence lives on as a broodmare sire. He has 113 mares with foals of racing age, and 30 of those mares have produced stakes horses. That’s a remarkable 33 percent stakes producers.”

– Glenye Cain Oakford